Sugar-sweetened soluble tea mix products frequently contain 90% or more sugar in granular, colorless form. As a result, many prior art sweetened tea mixes have difficulty presenting a color which is deep and dark enough to be reminiscent of instant tea or black tea. Providing such a color is important because rich, dark brown granules suggest to the consumer that the tea mix will have a strong tea flavor impact. In addition, a deep, red-brown brewed tea color in the beverage prepared from the mix is desirable because it indicates a superior tea flavor to the consumer.
Liquid tea mix products are subject to degradation reactions over time between the tea mix components due to the liquid matrix and the high concentration of the components. These reactions result in the development of precipitates. The precipitates result in turbidity in both the product, and the beverage prepared therefrom, which adversely affects product color.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,796 of Lunder et al., issued Apr. 3, 1984, discloses a process for the production of a cold soluble powdered tea extract. Water, tea solids, sugar, aliphatic carboxylic acid, and an aliphatic carboxylic acid salt are mixed to form a paste which is dried at a temperature of 122.degree. F. (50.degree. C.) to 167.degree. F. (75.degree. C.) and ground to a powder. However, since the mixture is not heated above 167.degree. F. (75.degree. C.), the color may not be developed at all, and clearly is not developed to the extent it would be at higher temperatures. Also, the presence of salt acts to buffer the system, and thus interferes with the color development which depends on the pH of the system.
It is desirable to provide a preferred deep, rich tea color naturally via processing to avoid introducing color additives. This invention is directed to providing such a process.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for enhancing tea beverage color naturally without the use of added colors.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for preparing a liquid or granular tea product having a storage-stable color.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for preparing a tea concentrate or coloring aid which is stable in a medium having a low pH and high tannin content.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for preparing a tea concentrate in which tea is employed as a catalyst to enhance the formation of color.
These and other objects of the invention will become obvious from the following descriptions and examples.